Cultivated varieties (cvs) of the avocado (Persea americana) originate by selfing, hybridization or chance selections, and are then propagated by grafting. The mesocarps of a given cv are consequently all genetically identical. Mesocarp gene‐enzyme systems were examined by starch gel electrophoresis and were found to be highly polymorphic. Alcohol dehydrogenase, phosphoglucomutase, glutamic‐oxaloacetic transaminase and leucine aminopeptidase are coded by 10 genes with 20 condominant alleles. ‘Seedling’ populations have been produced by selfing or by hybridizing cvs. Seedlings were found to segregate in normal Mendelian fashion for any gene for which the parent or parents were heterozygous. No isozyme evidence contradicted the reported parentage of several cvs of hybrid or selfed origin. Outcrossing, as indicated by the presence of a non‐parental isozyme, was detected among the seedlings of a supposed selfed population. To our knowledge, this is the first report of molecular genetics and of the genetics of any single‐gene character for the avocado. Possible applications are discussed.
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Torres et al. (1978) studied this question.